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DASH ARTS CURATORIAL RESIDENCY

Arnolfini are working with DASH Arts to change the culture of the visual arts sector to become more inclusive and accessible for Disabled curators.

From 2018 to 2021, Arnolfini will work with DASH as one of three major partner organisations to provide commissions for three Curators who identify as Disabled, to further their careers in the arts - alongside Midland Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham and Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA). £100,000 of Arts Council Funding has been allocated to the three-year project, as part of DASH’s work as a National Portfolio Organisation.

DASH Artistic Director, Mike Layward, said:

“The Curatorial Commissions programme aims to change the culture of the visual arts sector so it becomes more inclusive and accessible. There is a lack of Disabled people in positions of influence within the visual arts, and the longer-term aims of the project are to support the development of Disabled curators, who will become the directors of the future.

As part of the commissions we will also be working with each organisation’s learning and engagement team to increase levels of participation and engagement among Disabled children and young people, led by our new in post Learning and Engagement manager. It is a really exciting period of development in the work of DASH”

DASH has been working with galleries and arts centres in England and Wales since 2009 creating opportunities for Disabled artists to exhibit and curate. These opportunities have significantly advanced the careers of more than 15 Disabled artists, and have influenced and changed the thinking of a number of key people in these galleries. But DASH assert that further cultural changes must be made within the visual arts sector in order for it to become more inclusive and accessible.

The individual opportunities will be advertised by each venue over the course of the next year and also on the DASH website.